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Hook and Bullet Club - Logging in area

Submitted by admin on Tue, 04/29/2014 - 15:35

In the land of Camp Cholesterol, we’ve been waiting for a logging operation to commence for the past three years. This past winter the loggers arrived.
Evan and I took a wheeler ride out last weekend to get a new look at an area we’ve been hunting for the past dozen years.
The trees, many of which were falling down after rotting from the inside out, had been dropped, dragged, cut to length and hauled to the mills. It just became much more important to have our guns sighted in properly.
There were times Friday when we weren’t sure which way to go. What was once a trail is now part of a cutover. It’ll take some time getting used to.
What we could tell right away was that the deer were finding their way around. Where there was snow there were tracks and deer poop littered the ground.
Back by a beaver pond, Evan stood on the stump of a Norway that held one of our ladder stands for the past six years.
“There’s a deer kill,” said Evan pointing to a stretch of white deer hair on the ground.
Apparently the wolves like the cutover as well.
We walked around to get our bearings and once we did there was an adjustment to a hill or valley that was previously hidden from view.
This fall’s deer season will be a learning experience for the hunters at Camp Cholesterol. We may put stands in new locations or erect a ground blind on a hillside to watch what’s going on below.
There was only one deer taken by our camp last year (thanks to Megan) and we were due for a forest harvest to help bring deer back into the area.
The added bonus is a great supply of firewood to keep our woodshed full. There’s plenty of pine, birch and popple left behind and I’ve already picked up a firewood permit.
Logging operations provide a great benefit to the forest. In the 14 years we’ve been hunting there, this is the third time loggers have harvested trees. Each time the hunting has improved, both for deer and grouse.
It may take a while to get used to but I know I’m looking forward to our “new” area to hunt. And fall is just five months away!